


Gliding Wind

by star_crossing (cold_Moonberry)



Series: do shooting stars get to return home? [3]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: Akira speaks French, Ayane's really only a cameo, F/F, F/M, Female Persona 3 Protagonist and Male Persona 3 Protagonist are Twins, Kurusu Akira Crossdresses, M/M, The Velvet Room (Persona Series), a lot of people are little shits, absolute CRACK on chapter 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:08:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25430659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_Moonberry/pseuds/star_crossing
Summary: Akira through the events of Persona 4.(There will be some Investigation Team+Ryoji, Minato and Minako, but only a chapter or two)[Whatever French Akira speaks later on, I will translate in ()]
Relationships: Amagi Yukiko/Satonaka Chie, Aragaki Shinjiro/Arisato Minako, Arisato Minato/Mochizuki Ryoji
Series: do shooting stars get to return home? [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823614
Comments: 16
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

Akira Kurusu was tired. His parents, Minako and Shinjiro Aragaki had announced that they would be moving to some town in the country. Thus, he had been unpacking his things all day. 

Now 13 years old, they had gotten married a year ago, having adopted him when they were still college students. As they went on their honeymoon, paid for by his _very_ scary Aunt Mitsuru, he stayed with his uncles, Arisato Minato and Mochizuki Ryoji. 

There was always something weird about them. It wasn’t that some people threw them dirty looks when they held hands on the street, or that they still lived in the same building Uncle Minato did in high school, it was something different.

Uncle Minato and Ryoji just showed up one day, without any mention of them by anyone else. In fact, his mother had cried when she first saw him, so did many of the other aunties and uncles. Even Auntie Aigis, who he was 99% sure was a robot. (Sometimes he would feel like death, when Uncle Ryoji got upset [though that rarely happened], or he could swear Uncle Minato’s eyes would go from a dull blue to bright and glowing blue, while his mother’s glowed pink.)

Anyway, none of that mattered now. He had been trying for years to sneak up on Uncle Minato, a habit learned after spending years slinking around with that woman who would scream at him for breathing, but it never worked. He had tried everything, from tiny distractions, to meticulous sleight of hand, another habit, this time from living on the streets, pickpocketing with ****-kun, However, now that he’d practiced, nothing would stop him.

As Akira and his parents walked towards the old Gekkoukan High dorm, he took up his position, crouching, and sneaking around. Shinjiro rolled his eyes, while Minako just laughed.

They went into the building, and after spotting his uncle on the couch, the boy crept up on him. He was so close when suddenly, Uncle turned his head, catching him in the act.

“Too predictable Akira. Try and catch me when I least expect it, not when I know you’re coming.”

“Awwwww, yes sir!”

**______________________**

Akira recalled that moment, and all of his cumulative street smarts as he snuck into his parents bedroom. His uncles had just kind of appeared again, six months after they had settled into Yasoinaba, Inaba for short. His father opened a restaurant called Duo, while his mother opened a small bookstore, much like the one Old Man Bunkichi and Grannie Mitsuko did. 

He crept around, eventually finding a key. It felt… blue, like that weird place he went to for Christmas 2 years ago. He can’t remember how he got there, but they were other friends of his parents and 2 uncles that were dressed as blue as the room, an elaborate elevator. He met a young, fancy girl named Lavenza, a painter that reminded him of his dad, a singer and blind pianist who doted on him, a rowdy woman called Elizabeth, and Theodore, who was really nervous every time Elizabeth went near him, for some reason. 

He decided to take a walk around town, after of course stealing the key. Suddenly, when he got to the gas station, Akira saw a glowing door of the same blue. He took the key and opened it, to find a limousine. 

“Old man Igor? And… Margaret-san correct? You two were at the Christmas party. Although… what is this place?”

“Welcome, Trickster, to the Velvet Room. It is a place between dream and reality, mind and matter.”

“Unfortunately, your journey has yet to start. Please exit the premises.”

“Why do you guys keep calling me that? And who are you? Are you new?” Akira’s gaze landed on a brown-haired girl, dressed like a messenger.

The girl scowled. 

“I’m Marie. I have no idea how I got here, and the Nose won’t answer you in any way except cryptically.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Akira.”

“Hmmmmm. It seems our current guest is approaching. You must leave for now, Trickster.”

“I’m not leaving, when this is so interesting and cool! How are the others? And if I left now, wouldn’t your current guest see me? Who even is your current guest?”

“It seems he has a point master.”

“Very well, I will arrange for Lavenza to take him someplace else. Please distract him in the meantime.

Margaret nodded, exiting the limo. Lavenza appeared, smiling.

“Greetings, Trickster. It has been quite a while.”

“Lavenza!” He ran and hugged her. “Is Marie coming with us?”

Igor grinned.

“Not right now, Trickster. You may see her again, however.”

“Awwww, okay. See ya soon!” Akira lifted one of the seat cushions, delight overtaking him when an exit, exactly as he imagined, appeared.

“Trickster? How-” Lavenza didn’t get to finish as he pulled her hand, jumping into the hole that wasn’t there before.

Igor chuckled.

“Ah, the mind of a child. I look forward to seeing what will become of him.”

“How did he do that?” Marie got frustrated as the Nose only chuckled, but calmed down and smiled. 

“I think I like that kid.”

**___________________________**

_Meanwhile, Outside the Velvet Room…_

“Margaret? What’s going on?” She never walked towards Yu, always waiting for him instead.

“A mess has found its way into the Velvet Room, and we are fixing it. Do not worry, it has proven to be harmless, and will be cleared soon.”

Yu was confused, but didn’t ask any questions. He knew he wouldn’t receive answers.

Later he asked Marie what that was all about, but only got more confused as she waved it off, and started announcing she would try to talk with other humans.

Well, at least she was okay?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins+Ryoji find the TV World.

Aragaki Minako was exasperated. Her brother and his boyfriend had the  _ nerve  _ to use the Velvet Room to quick travel, barge into her bookstore,  _ while it was still open,  _ and demand help. She would help them anyway. Of course she would. Apparently Minato had been waking up at midnight for nearly a month now, and that instinct that came with being The Universe led him here. To little Yasoinaba. 6 months after they moved in. It didn’t help that she kept misplacing her Velvet Room key, and Akira started wandering around town more often, though maybe that wasn’t that bad. At least he had something to do.

So here she was, in Junes, fooling around. She wasn’t even sure how that happened, but it was just the three of them. They had asked Shinji, but he said,

“I don’t do that persona stuff anymore. Besides, someone has to watch Akira.  _ Someone that won’t keep using  _ **_garu_ ** _ to entertain him and be a nuisance to everyone else. _ ”

It also didn’t help that Ryoji Mochizuki was very physically affectionate to her brother, who  _ allowed  _ it. 

“Ugh, get a room you two. I don’t need to see this.”

Her brother sighed.

“Come on, Mina-chan, it’s love!” Ryoji smiled.

“No, no, she’s right. It’s getting to be too much.” Minato deadpanned.

“Thank  _ God _ .”

“That’s not fair, you two are ganging up on me!”

At this they started playfully shoving each other around in the Junes electronics aisle. Eventually, somebody shoved a little too hard, and they all ended up falling into a big TV.

**____________________________**

“Whoa, what is this place?”

“It radiates Dark Hour energy. There are shadows here too.”

“Wait, that means we can summon our personas again!”

Minako squealed as she flipped through her old selection.

“They’re all still there!”

“ _ Messiah!” _

_ “Orpheus!” _

Ryoji whistled before transforming with a spin.

“aNd thANaToS!”

They all laughed, the God of Death having to change back just to do so.

“Look guys, the Velvet Room’s over there.”

“Let’s go, then.”

**____________________**

_ Inside the Velvet Room…  _

“Igor! I was worried you locked me out when I couldn’t access those magical blue doors across town.”

“Apologies. We have been very busy with our current guest.” He appeared to remember something else, but chose not to mention it, in favor of grinning wider.

“Greetings. Unfortunately, our services may no longer be available to you.”

“No that’s all fine, Margaret, we have everything we need.”

“Maybe we should go slash through some shadows.”

They grinned in unison.

“Let’s do it.”

**_______________________**

They slashed through the shadows easily, until they came upon the Reaper. A bear, who had started following them since they entered, gasped as they started to fight it. They were strong, but nobody could beat the Reaper, right? However, they smirked and engaged. The trio moved fluidly and silently as they maimed the shadow, subduing it. All of them had a strange energy around them. Suddenly, they all turned towards him, smirking. The black-haired man winked. Teddie gasped and fled. He had to tell the others.

**________________________**

_ At Junes…  _

“I’m telling you guys, there were others in the TV world!” Teddie yelled, before being hushed by Yosuke.

“They all were at the entrance, confused. I was going to help them, but suddenly they started talking about dark hour energy. Then, the girl said persona, and summoned a lot of them, like Sensei! The boy did too, and he could summon a lot at once! Then the other one transformed into a monster! The pretty girl pointed at the air and said ‘velvet’ and they all kinda spaced out together.” Yu’s eyes widened. 

“They snapped out of it after a bear-y long time, and started cutting through shadows! They were stealthy and strong. They went to Yuki-chan’s dungeon and cut through them like they were nothing! The Reaper appeared, and instead of running away, they fought it!”

“Whoa, whoa whoa. What? They fought  _ The Reaper? _ ”

Teddie nodded.

“They didn’t even have to say anything to each other, and they beat it!”

“They did?!”

“How-”

“Then they noticed me, and I ran here bear-y fast to tell you this!”

“What did they look like?”

“The pretty girl had red eyes, and the boys both had dark hair and blue eyes.”

“Could you be more specific, Ted?”

“I couldn’t! Teddie was very scared!”

“Good job, Teddie. We obviously can’t fight these people, so we’ll have to grow stronger. We should work on finding out who these people are. Yosuke, check the camera clips. Teddie, watch the TV world, and tell us if you recognize them. If these people are the murderers, we need to work harder. Yukiko, are you ok to go back there?”

She nodded.

“Great, we need to go as soon as possible.”

**__________________**

“That bear-shadow-thing will probably be telling the other persona users now. We need to find them. I doubt they’ll think us innocent, especially after defeating the Reaper.” 

“Maybe they’ll come into the bookstore, or the restaurant, who knows.”

“You sure we won’t be seen falling in?”

“Of course, dearest. Death has a way of blending in, after all.” 

“You two should really wait until I leave if you’re going to be all romantic and stuff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They found the TV World!!! As I said in the summary, I'm not planning to add a lot of chapters like this, bc it's mainly Akira and his shenanigans in the Velvet Room and around town.
> 
> I don't really have much else to tell you, so byeee~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Investigation Team are found out (but it's not as bad as they thought)

It only took four days for the trio to find the Investigation Team. Ryoji said the scent of death lingered around the Junes boy, matching that of the young girl who died. The Teddie had suddenly become the new Inaba Junes mascot, and it wasn’t hard for Ryoji to follow them, revealing their whole friend group. So they decided to taunt them. 

They temporarily dyed their hair a slightly different color in the TV world, so if they were seen in real life, the high schoolers would think it was them, but change their minds upon closer inspection. Ryoji and Minako got dark brown eye contacts, and Minato decided to unnerve them by choosing the eye color of the Velvet Room attendants. It would be only slightly different from shadows to the others, but to the Wildcard, it would mean something else entirely. They also changed their hairstyles, Death/Fortune going for a messier look, the World sporting a braid like her brother’s in the real world, and the Universe in a low bun. To finish it off, they wore their old Gekkoukan uniforms. 

This would be fun.

**___________________________**

The persona-using high schoolers were very frustrated. Their leader even more so.

Yosuke couldn’t find anything on the cameras at all. He even went as far to check all the customers to see if Teddie recognized them, but with no luck.

Every time the team would infiltrate dungeons, they also went in, making a point to be in a different area each time. Almost every time Narukami Yu would enter his Velvet Room, one of them, confirmed by Teddie, would be drinking a glass of wine, staring at him before nodding to Igor and Margaret and leaving. How? Sometimes it would be simply opening the doors and stepping out into the fog surrounding the limo. Other times it would be through a secret hatch beneath one of the seats. Only Igor and Marie knew how it got there, and Marie didn’t understand why. Sometimes he would just sit there and stare, sharing a drink or some music with Marie. The mysterious girl would refuse to answer about the secret hatch, which wouldn’t open for Yu, but said this about the bright, blue-haired boy with the golden eyes.

“He’s very powerful, but makes people feel calm. Something about him reminds me of you, though. Never heard his name, but the Nose calls him ‘dear boy’ and ‘Universe.’ Kinda strange, huh.”

They were three very powerful persona users, clad in black jackets, white shirts, and red ribbons and armbands, with a penchant for shooting themselves in the head. 

The boy with dark brown hair and eyes could turn into a monster, or summon it by simply finger gunning his head. He felt like death.

The girl with light red hair and eyes to match the other boys’ carried a silver fake gun. Sometimes she pointed it at her head, sometimes she slashed through shadows with a naginata. She had an endless arsenal of personas at her side.

The boy with bright blue hair and unnatural golden eyes more often than not scared away the shadows they tried to fight. Though they had rarely seen it, he could just mutter under his breath and sure enough, a persona would appear, casting a spell.

One week later, the Investigation Team found them huddled in a circle.

“The shadows are so weak here! Lately, I haven’t been using personas at all! The ones that ‘Mr. Universe’ over here doesn’t scare away, end up being sliced by my naginata in under a minute!”

“Tartarus was harder.”

“It was!” 

“Why don’t you guys just fight the blue gang?”

Minato hummed.

“That might actually be a good suggestion. Let’s ask Igor next time.”

At every mention of the Velvet Room, Yu’s eyes widened.

“Wait, wait, are you boys crazy?!” 

“yes,” Minato whispered as his sister shot him a glare.

“We can’t fight the Velvet attendants/residents!”

“How did you say ‘/’?” Ryoji questioned. Minako shot him a glare as well.

“Margaret’s crazy strong and merciless, Elizabeth’s crazy about this sort of stuff, Theodore… I don’t know, Lavenza’s new, Belladonna, Nameless, and Painter are always doing their thing, and Marie’s new. Does she even have access to personas?”

From their hiding spot, the Investigation Team was confused.

“They know Marie?” someone whispered.

“Who are they even talking about?”

They were so occupied, they didn’t notice the strange persona users walking towards them. 

“You know, you guys should really get better at stalking people.”

“It’s them!” 

“They noticed us!”

“Who are you?!”

“We know you’ve been throwing people into the TV!”

At this the girl's eyes widened and she snarled. The blue-haired boy put a hand on her shoulder, whispering something to her. She relaxed.

The last one spoke up.

“If you really think that, you should just start over your entire investigation.”

“Why would we bear-lieve anything else?”

The blunet answered this time, turning towards the Investigation Team’s Leader.

“You’ve seen me in  _ that place _ before,” at this the Investigation Team looked confused, while the three smirked. “You should already know the answer.”

Yu sighed.

“They’re right guys. They aren’t murderers.”

Amid the gasps, he continued. 

“Who are you guys?”

At this, they summoned their personas, the girl casting bufu on their heads, while the blue boy cast agi on it, creating water, and washing all the dye off. The last boy took out all their eye contacts, revealing their true human forms.

“Aragaki-san from the bookstore?” Yukiko questioned.

“Wait, you’re married to the dude that runs Duo!” Chie added.

“It’s like we don’t even matter anymore, Minato.”

“Who are  _ you _ , then?”

“We’re regular committees of tax fraud, since I’m legally dead, and Mochizuki Ryoji isn’t a real person.”

“Always so dramatic, aren’t you dear brother.”

“Wait, WHAT!”

“HOW?”

“We know, Mochizuki Ryoji-san turns into a big monster.” Teddie missed the person? in question flinch.

“Technically Arisato Minato died on the top of Gekkoukan High in Tatsumi Port Island due to Apathy Syndrome.”

“And Ryoji Mochizuki is really-”

He transformed

“THanAtOS, gReEK gOd oF DeATh.” 

“Whoa, WHAT?!”

They allowed the team to process the information.

“Crap guys, I gotta go home, Shinji and Kira are probably home already.”

“We should leave too.”

Ryoji nodded, turning back.

“Let’s go. Bye everybody!”

As they watched them walk away, Minako to the TV, Minato and Ryoji to a door only they and Yu could see, they saw Ryoji fall on top of the other boy, who pushed him off, then transformed into a child with striped pajamas. Minato rolled his eyes before carrying the child piggyback style, handing him off to his persona once he changed back into an adult. Then the two disappeared into thin air.

The Investigation Team gaped.

“So WHAT just happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeeeeey. So I got the idea of their "disguises" from a FMAB fic called Nequitia Est Manus. You should read it, it's really cool. It's if Ed faked his death and didn't escape Gluttony's failed portal of Truth with Ling and Envy. Instead he fakes his death and does undercover stuff. It has a really interesting take on the Elric's possible family backstory.
> 
> I may not be able to update regularly this week, important deadline, but I won't forget!
> 
> anyway have fun reading (i hope) and byeee~


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and the Velvet Room attendants, and crashing into stuff.

Akira had been sneaking into the “Velvet Room” for a while now. He had fun with the residents: Marie (who refused any honorifics or titles) wrote with him, poetry, usually, but also stories, which they would tell each other. He would tell her about the hidden hour, the green skies, blood water and the coffins that his parents would tell him. 

Mr. Painter (he refused to call him a demon, an insult which hit too close to home, but also because he reminded him of his dad) taught him all about art and colors and how to make them, about how to frame a face just right, and how to make a painting seem magical.

Auntie Bella and Uncle Nameless (Lady Bella and Sir Nameless sometimes, to be formal in front of the others [not that it made any difference] or just to joke) taught him music, piano, and singing. He learned a song that his mother and uncle listened to a lot, Kimi no Kioku, but also the Aria of the Soul, which sounded different, yet equally beautiful in his young, boyish voice. They taught him different instruments sometimes, if he was interested. 

Auntie Elizabeth played with him a lot, and told him not to be noticed by Uncle Theodore, who would blab to his mother. 

Igor (who was like a creepy grandfather) would listen to anything he had to say, when the limo was empty, and gave cryptic advice, not that he understood it, but he used it in his poems sometimes. He would grin even wider, when he read them, telling him to keep the poems, and remember them in his hour of need.

Finally, Lavenza. She was his best friend, cheery but snarky when she had to be. Sometimes she’d call him “Inmate,” when they played their jailbreak games, he’d try to sneak past her, while she would stand guard. She would also help him sneak around the various Velvet Rooms, which he appreciated.

Which led him to some powers he’d found. In the Velvet Room, if he thought really hard, envision it in his mind, and believe something would be there, it would be. He had even made a separate room for himself and the residents. Moreover, if he focused, he could sense things more easily and find things as well. He was told that his eyes glowed red (like his mom and her twin) when he did so, but it seemed like the only people who could sense it were the Velvet attendants and people he felt… strange with.

He couldn’t explain it, but he could sense something, not bad or good, but strange and unfamiliar. Even without his third eye, he could feel it. He felt it around his parents, all of his aunts and uncles, but random people as well. He went to deliver food once, to help his father, to a guest at the inn, and he felt it in the owner’s daughter, who knew his mother. It was strongest in the Velvet Room, but also around his parents, aunties, and uncles.

It was awkward to explain, but he mainly blamed it on lighting, and after one incident where Aunt Mitsuru had thought he was drugged (he was back in Iwatodai for a weekend), he resolved to only use it when those who could see his eyes glow couldn’t see his eyes, or weren’t around completely. Thinking back on it, Auntie had seemed panicked, for an entirely different reason, almost like him being “drugged” was a lesser evil than her natural conclusion. But perhaps he was reading too much  _ Lupin _ .

He could also see what he determined to be the tarot cards Igor always talked about floating above the aforementioned people’s heads. Some of them were above people he didn’t feel that feeling around, some were, some had no cards, and some people had blank cards. Like they had yet to be activated. He didn’t know how or why they activated but the nice girl from the tofu shop (who looked kinda familiar) had a blank card, and up until recently, the nice punk from the textile shop had too, until revealing itself as XI. He looked it up, and it was The Emperor. Huh. The blank cards couldn’t see his eyes become red.

The cards: The World, The Universe, and Death/Fortune, His mom, her brother, and his boyfriend, respectively, were amused about his sudden interest in the tarot deck, but there was also a hidden worry and nostalgia he felt. Strange. He was also confused about Uncle Ryoji having two arcana, but he didn’t worry about it too much. Although he was a bit annoyed about him constantly saying “The arcana is the means by which all is revealed!” with a flourish, (though he supposed he should learn some of those tricks and fancy moves sometimes).

After saying goodbye to Margaret, who always seemed exasperated when he came back, but was nice enough, Igor, and Marie, he went to Junes and started walking around, bored. He started practicing his backflips and other various tricks, half to surprise Lavenza, half to join his school’s gymnastics team. He was on one particularly tricky bit when he fell on something soft, yet rounded. The mysterious thing stood up, standing up with him.

“Woah, mister, are you okay?”

“Who are- oh you’re the new mascot. Nice to meet you, and please don’t call me mister. I’m too young for that.”

“Then what should I call you?” 

Akira took a moment to sense any bad intentions, but relaxed when he found none. He had that feeling, (he was calling it tarot senses now) and mentally cursed over his inability to use what he started calling his “third eye.”

“Akira Kurusu, what about you?”

“I’m Teddie!”

“No last name?”

“Just Teddie! Though, you smell bear-y familiar!”

_ Okay that’s really weird. Is this dude mentally okay? _

“Uhhhhh, my mom runs a bookstore, and my dad has a restaurant? Maybe that’s why?”

“Maybe! Why were you doing cool tricks here?”

“I’m practicing for my gymnastics tryouts.”

“What’s that?”

“Seriously???” This man had GOT to be messing with him. Suddenly a voice called out.

“Teddie?”

“Guyyyssss!!!” He ran towards a group of 4 highschoolers. Two were familiar. Ignoring that, he took the opportunity to use his third eye.

The manager’s kid, Hanamura. I. Magician.

Teddie was XVII. Star.

There was Kanji-san, XI, Emperor.

A girl with short brown hair that he saw around the inn sometimes. XII. Chariot.

Finally, Yukiko-san, II. Priestess. 

They all activated his tarot senses, which he meant he had to be careful. Goddammit. Yukiko-san started addressing him.

“Is that you, Akira-kun? How lovely!”

“Hello, Yukiko-san, Kanji-san. I was just kinda wandering around, here, and ran into Teddie.”

“Oh please, no honorifics from my favorite jokester. I hope he didn’t weird you out too much.”

“A little, but it’s no problem, uhhhh. Can I call you Kiki-chan?”

“Of course!” She giggled.

“Thank goodness we came when we did, who knows what that damn bear could say if we didn’t get here soon. No nicknames, please, but you don’t have to use honorifics either.” Kanji-san rumbled. “How’s that apron lasting? And that bear?”

“Dad’s been using it a lot, and it hasn’t worn down a bit. He really likes it. As for the bear, it’s halfway done, Kanji-kun!”

Hanamura-san looked confused, as the punk smiled proudly.

“Wait, bear? And why’s your dad wearing an apron?” The brown haired girl elbowed Hanamura-san in the ribs.

“He runs a restaurant, Duo.”

“Wow, their food is so good!”

“Wait, your mother is Aragaki-san, right?” The highschoolers stiffened.

“Yeah.”

“Oh. We’ve all rarely spoken to them. What is your mother and your uncle like?”

“As well as their friend? Mochizuki-san?”

“Oh, well they’re all really kind, I guess? Mama used to do volleyball, so she helps me stretch a lot, and lets me borrow her books. Uncle Minato and Uncle Ryoji always take time to help me out, though it’s kinda weird that despite being my mom’s brother, I hadn’t met both of them until a while after my other aunts and uncles. Uncle Ryoji was traveling, they told me, and Uncle Minato was just plain gone. They just kind of appeared one day, but whatever. Uncle Ryoji’s cheerier and likes to joke around with me and my other uncle, while Uncle Minato challenges me to a lot of different stuff.”

“Like… what?” someone asked, slightly worried.

That was weird. Why would they think his family could do anything bad? He channeled what Auntie Yukari and Uncle Minato had taught him about expressions and body language, and shifted uncomfortably, breathing slightly harder, not enough to have a panic attack, but enough for them to get the hint.

“Food competitions and stealth, mostly.”

“Stealth?”

“Yeah, I tend to sneak around a lot, and we compete over that.”

“Oh. Did he teach you that?”

“No, learned it on my own, with… with a friend.”

The Investigation Team decided not to pry. So far it had seemed like they were nice people.

“Okay, well, tell your parents we said hi!”

“Bye!”

Thank god that was over.

**________________________________**

“Oh hey, Mom, Dad, Uncles, I ran into Kanji-san, Amagi-san and their friends at Junes today. Kanji-san said he’s glad about that apron, and they all told me to say hi to you guys.”

“Oh? Did they say anything else?”

“They asked what you were like, for some reason, and sorry, Uncles, but I did kinda tell them you showed up out of nowhere.”

“It’s okay, why would we be mad?”

But Akira noticed the way the adults’ eyes flashed dangerously, his dad (who had been informed of the situation) mumbling something about underhanded tactics, and was confused. Maybe he should ask Igor and Lavenza tomorrow. (Not like he expected an answer, but whatever)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live!!! I have nothing else to do for the rest of the summer until school starts! (it is pretty sad bc summer's almost over tho)
> 
> The thing about Mitsuru being scared that Akira's eyes glowed was bc she recognized the Arisato twins doing the same thing, and also she had a persona as a child and she didn't want that for Akira. I didn't rly know if that was clear, so there.
> 
> I really like the idea of Akira hanging out and interacting with all the Velvet Residents on a personal level, so I might post a chapter of purely that content idk. 
> 
> I was able to access the ps4 i was playing p5r on for a few days, and im in the middle of doc's palace. (that part with rumi was so sad) Sadly, I'll have to wait till Thanksgiving to play again.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

The four adults were furious. They managed to wait it out until dinner for venting. In order to talk privately, they needed Akira out of the house. He was too curious for his own good. However, they couldn’t let him walk around, there were murders after all, but the only people that would take him that they trusted was the Inn or the Textile Shop, but their kids had interrogated him for information about them, who’s to say they wouldn’t do it again. They didn’t want Akira to be put under that pressure again, so they begrudgingly stuck him in the Velvet Room. Luckily he had decided to take a nap, so there were no questions about the magical blue doors he couldn’t see.

“Those underhanded little- AGH! I get that they don’t trust us but interrogating ‘Kira? What if they yelled at him! God knows his therapist has been immensely helpful, but what if they yelled at him?! He doesn’t need that right now.”

“Calm down. They’re high schoolers and they have no reason to trust us immediately.”

“You’re right, dearest, except the fact that their wildcard SAW YOU IN THE VELVET ROOM ALIVE!!!”

“Akira said the wildcard wasn’t there, though. It was poor behavior, but reasonable in their case.”

“We need to talk to them about this.”

“Tomorrow.”

**___________________________**

Akira woke up to the Velvet Room.

“Lavenza? Why am I here?”

“Your parents and uncles needed to vent about your little interrogation today, so they called Elizabeth and dropped you here.”

“Oh. Was it that obvious what that reminded me about? They were nice about it too.”

“I guess so. Anyway Firefly just left, so we can head to the limo.”

They had started calling the gray-haired guest Akira had been spying on from a peephole in the limo “Firefly” because his eyes glowed like his, only yellow.

“I wanna practice with Auntie Bella and Uncle Nameless first.”

“Want me to sing with you?”

Akira grinned.

“Of course.”

**_________________________**

When his parents came back for him, he was talking with Marie and Lavenza. They got him to close his eyes (he inwardly smirked, as he already knew what they didn’t want him to see), but unbeknownst to them, he had left with a new weight in his pocket. He didn’t know how, but he had convinced Igor to give him a key? So now his mom would stop “misplacing” hers.

He was confident he could hide his little secret.

**_________________________**

The Investigation Team came to the TV World only to find the three persona-using adults fuming mad.

“Narukami-san.”

“How do you know my name?”

Minato sighed.

“We tailed you for a week. We know all your names. However, not the point. Were you with your team yesterday, when you ran into a child?”

“No, I was running late. Why?”

Ryoji smiled dangerously.

“Because the child they talked to was my nephew. Who was uncomfortable the whole time they questioned him.”

Minako finished.

“Let’s make this clear. You keep my son out of any persona-related business. Do not interrogate him, and do not follow him. I get that you don’t trust us, but you will not drag him into this. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Yu turned to his team.

“Guys. Why did this happen?”

“You might have seen Minato-san in whatever place, but we haven’t! All we know is that they’re super strong, and suspicious!” Yosuke stood up.

“You interrogated a child about his family. What child would think bad about his family? Especially if their family has been nothing but polite so far.”

“Thank you, Narukami-san.”

“Wait, are the three of you all siblings? I thought I heard Mochizuki-san call Akira-kun his nephew.” Yukiko also thought Mochizuki-san and Minato-san were dating.

“Family is a loose term for those who don’t have any. All of our high school friends are Akira’s aunts or uncles.”

“So are you two dating or not?” Chie whispered to the two men.

“No, we are. You got a problem with that?” 

“No, no! I might need some help though. Just you two.”

“Meet us at the shrine. After this expedition.”

The whispered conversation reached no other ears.

**_________________________**

“Right, so what did you want with us Satonaka-san?”

“Uhhhh, call me Chie? Also I need help.”

“Obviously. What is it?”

“I also might be pretty gay? For Yukiko?”

“Amagi?” They smirked.

Chie went bright red.

“Yeah.”

“Aren’t you two best friends? I’ve seen you two, and even if she says no, which is unlikely, you’ll still be friends. I’m sure of it.”

“O-oh. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i don't think chie x yukiko will be a big part of the story, I just ship them so I thought I'd add that cute little tidbit in there.
> 
> If you want to imagine what those old SEES members will do with the Investigation Team, you should read Catch Perfect by TwilightKnight17. It's a rly nice story, and that's what I imagine the twins and Ryoji doing with the team.
> 
> Next chapter: Akira forges a bond.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira meets someone at the Flood Plain

Akira was visiting the Samegawa Flood Plain when he saw a young girl, with dark brown hair, sitting there as well. A blank card.

“Hello. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

She looked surprised.

“O-oh, well I-I’m here with my father. We’re on summer vacation, but… my mother is busy.”

“That sucks. I’m Akira Kurusu, but call me Akira. What about you?” he grinned.

“H-Hifumi Togo. You can call me Hifumi, if you want.”

“Okay! What are your interests?”

A fire lit, in her eyes.

“My father and I particularly prefer shogi. It’s so cool, and I’ve even won a competition!”

“Shogi? I’ve heard of it but never played. I’m into tarot cards, but would you teach me?”

“Of course! You’re really interested? Well, then I have a board at our hotel room, and- oh. I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?”

“You’re passionate. I think it’s great! Oh, but can I tell my mom first? She’s at work right now, but I can visit her.”

“Of course! Where does she work?”

“A bookstore.”

“Wow! There must be so many shogi books- are there?”

“I think there’s a whole section for strategy.”

“Woah.”

_ I am  _ **_thou_ ** _ , thou art I,  _

_ Thou hast acquired a  _ **_new_ ** _ vow. _

_ It shall  _ **_become_ ** _ the wings of rebellion _

_ That  _ **_breaketh_ ** _ the chains of captivity. _

_ With the birth of the Star Persona, _

_ I have obtained the winds of  _ **_blessing_ **

_ That shall lead to freedom and  _ **_new_ ** _ power…  _

_ Lavenza?!  _ Akira looked around, but with no luck. This had happened before, with Igor (0. Fool.), Lavenza (XI. Strength), Uncle Minato (XXII. Universe.), Mom (XXII. World), and… ****-kun (****.*******.). Hifumi didn’t seem to notice his confusion, as he caught up with her. When he used his third eye, her card had been activated! But, it was from a different deck?! The same one as Igor’s, Lavenza’s, and Goro’s. The image was different, and it was in French.

XVII. L’Etoile. The Star.

From then on, Akira learned shogi, but not enough to beat Hifumi. They hung out more often, and soon he had a fifth unbreakable bond. When he introduced her to Lavenza, the three of them became an unstoppable trio of disaster. Hifumi would plan out the strategies, Akira would enact them, and Lavenza would help, or bail them out of trouble. 

**_______________________**

“Okay, ladies, I’m thinking we need codenames.”

“Why? What is the point?”

“Well, you can be Trickster, since that’s what Lavenza and the other blue people call you.” Hifumi had only met Margaret and Marie, but had been informed there were others.

“Nice nice, except I don’t know why they call me that. Sounds cool, though, so I’ll go with it.”

“We call you the Trickster, because you are the Trickster. Anyway, I think Hifumi should be Star.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s your arcana, the means to which all is revealed!” Akira and Lavenza spoke in unison.

“You keep saying this, but it’s hypocritical since you complain that your uncle keeps saying it.”

“Shhh. No logic in this house, Star. What should Lavenza’s name be? Blue? Short?”

“You will face true Strength, should you keep that up.”

“What about Butterfly? Since her headband, and all?”

“Great! Now, Butterfly, what’s our next objective? Star, we’ll need a strategy.”

**_______________________**

She confided in him before she left.

“Akira, I wanted to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“You know how I told you I won a competition for shogi?”

“Yeah, you’re really smart, sooo…”

“My mother has been pushing for me to do more and more of them. I… love shogi, but, I don’t think this is about that anymore.”

“Oh. Well, if you keep doing what is right, then it’ll all be okay. Take this, for good luck.” He handed her a long red cord with a yellow tassel at the end and a three leaf clover shape at the top.

She put it in her hair.

“I’ll come back here. For Christmas. But, it’ll only be a few days, and that’s all I could convince my parents for.”

They see Lavenza coming over.

“You’re coming back for Christmas?” She bounces on her toes.

“Yeah.”

“Great, then we can all hang out again! I’ll make sure Trickster over here doesn’t lose his shogi skills. Maybe he could beat you one day.”

“Ha! As if! Nobody can face the might of the Togo Kingdom!”

“We’ll see.”

“Bye Akira, Lavenza.”

“Farewell, Star.”

  
“ _ Au revoir, mon étoile~ _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hifumi Togo, everybody!
> 
> So, I finished the outline for the rest of this fic, now I just have to write the chapters. I'm already getting started on the outline for the next part during Persona 5, and I'm wondering: should I make the ships shumako (akira x makoto) or shuake (akira x akechi)??? I pretty much ship both, but I can't seem to make a decision.
> 
> I edited Twins at the End of the World. It's just another section on just after Minato dies. I edited Shooting Stars a little on chapters 2 and 4 to mention the new edit. A couple of phrases and lines.
> 
> Please enjoy and also help me make a decision on the ships for next work!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This boy is hiring friends by the minute.

Akira was worried about Kujikawa-san, from the tofu shop. (he swore she seemed familiar, but he couldn’t figure out how. His friends on the gymnastics team told him to figure it out himself, while they giggled away.) She had gotten kidnapped, and when he vented to Igor, Marie, and Lavenza, Igor only said something about the Lovers arcana, which he supposed would be her card once it was activated, Marie wrote with him a little, which helped, and Lavenza told him not to worry about it. By then, Firefly was approaching the room, so he had to leave through another door. While he was wandering around town, he bumped into somebody, sending them flat on their bottoms.

“Are you okay? I’m really sorry.”

The blue-haired stranger replied, helping him up.

“No, it was my fault. I’m fine.”

Akira looked at him. Something was off. He was a blank card, but there was something else, too.

“Mister, are you a girl?” he whispered.

“Wha-”

“It’s okay, I like to dress as a girl sometimes too! You look really convincing, though. Can you help me with it?”

“I- sure. How did you figure me out?”

“You yelped when I crashed into you. And there’s something about the way you carry yourself, too. Do you want to be called a boy?”

The blank card smiled.

“No, I prefer they/them. What about you?”

“I’m still a boy, but it’s fun to pretend and dress up sometimes. Why are you a boy?”

“I’m a detective, Naoto Shirogane. Though, for figuring out my secret you can call me by my first name. Girls are less respected as detectives, so I pretend to be a boy. Please don’t tell anyone else.”

“I won’t. Still, that’s not fair! It’s not like you chose to be a girl. Can you help me look more like a girl when I want to, Naoto-san?”

The young detective smiled.

“Of course, but please, no honorifics. Will you help me change my body language? I also haven’t learned your name.”

“I’m Akira Kurusu, 12 years old. How old are you?”

“I’m a first year in high school.”

“Wow, so young and cool!” He picked up a paper off of the ground. “Is this one of your cases?”

“It’s a riddle I can’t solve.”

Akira read it.

“It seems like the culprit would be the 2nd guy. He doesn’t have any shoes in the picture.”

“What?” They took the paper, and read it over again. “That makes so much sense! Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He bowed with extra flourish.

“Can I ask your opinion for other riddles?” 

“Sure. My parents aren’t home yet, so if you wanna help me look more like a girl, we can go to my house. You can bring your hardest riddles!”

“That would be nice.”

“Come with me, then!”

“Say, Akira-kun, do you happen to know Kanji Tatsumi?”

“Kanji-kun? Yeah, why do you ask?”

“How is he? I haven’t had a chance to check on him.”

“He seems fine. He found friends, which I’m happy about. I was afraid everybody would ignore him because he’s a punk, or because he likes working at the textile shop.”

“I see. Who are his new friends?”

“So far, it’s Kiki-chan, oh, sorry, I meant Yukiko-chan, her friend who’s always at the inn, and Hanamura-san. I’ve seen a gray-haired highschooler with them too, but I don’t know him.”

“I see. Will you indulge me in one more question?”

“Sure!”

“How are you so familiar with Yukiko Amagi and Kanji Tatsumi?”

**_________________________**

_ Amagi Inn. _

“Hello, how may I help you?”

“Oh, uh, one of your guests ordered Duo? I’m delivering for my dad.”

“How sweet! Do you know what room it is?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright, then, go on ahead.”

After he finished delivering it, he found a book on the street. It was one the ones from his mom’s shop, and one of his favorite series.

“Excuse me, I think that’s mine.”

Akira yelped and jumped, turning around swiftly. It was a high schooler with straight black hair, and a red headband. He calmed his adrenaline and instincts telling him to  _ run _ .

“Oh! Ummm, I’m so sorry! I just found it lying on the street, and I noticed it was from my mom’s bookstore, plus it’s one of my favorite series, and I just-”

“Oh no, it’s okay! I didn’t mean to upset you, and oh, I’ve cut you off. Did you say that was from your mother’s store?”

“Yeah, but I’m at the Inn for my dad.”

“Oh! Are you the Aragakis’ child?”

“At your service, Miss?”

“What a fine young gentleman, I am Yukiko Amagi.”

“And I am Akira.” 

“Well, thank you for your service here, whatever it may be, Akira-kun. Please, tell your mother I might be a new regular.”

“ _ Inn  _ would be my pleasure, Amagi-san.”

At this the Amagi heiress started cracking up, letting loud laughter ring through the town.

“Ahahahahhahh!  _ Inn  _ instead of it! AHAHHAHAHA!”

At this Akira let himself laugh with her.

After they recovered, he gave her the book.

“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve laughed like that, sorry. But please, call me Yukiko.”

“No it’s okay, I had fun, even though my jaw hurts.”

The girl threatened to crack up again.

“Please, come back whenever, and tell me more jokes. I’ll look for you at the bookstore.”

“Bye!”

**_________________________**

_ Tatsumi Textiles. _

Akira knew he was supposed to be looking for a new dress to surprise his mom, but he couldn’t help it. When he entered the store, there was a slightly scary punk behind the counter. The punk looked surprised when he simply waved a hello instead of making a comment or displaying fear. 

_ Well,  _ Akira thought,  _ he could never measure up to Aunt Mitsuru on a bad day. _

Anyway, instead of walking up to the counter to request a dress, a small blue butterfly plushie caught his eye. He wanted to give it to Lavenza, but no. He was here for his mom. A dress for his mom.

“That one catch your eye? Kanji Tatsumi. You are?”

Crap, he had been staring too long!

“Akira Kurusu. It reminds me of something a friend would like, but I’m actually here about a dress for my mom. Er, but, do you know who made it?”

“I did.” Kanji braced himself for ridicule. Instead, the boy’s eyes lit up.

“Really! That's so cool! Can you teach me, Tatsumi-san?”

“Er, uhh, don’t call me that. Tatsumi-san’s my ma. And are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Ahem. Well, let’s see about that dress.”

“Oh, yeah! I was thinking something like this!” 

After he took the order, Kanji replied.

“So, about that plushie. You really wanna learn?”

“Yeah! Could you teach me to knit too?”

“Course. Say, would you like to come back every Wednesday?”

“I’d love to, Kanji-sensei!”

“Please don’t.”

“Awww, just joking.”

**_________________________**

As Naoto watched the boy continue walking, they marveled on what a nice friend they’d found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I went on a little road trip and came back late yesterday.
> 
> Ok, so Akira knows Rise bc one day Shinjiro had to work late, and Minako was too busy to cook so they ordered tofu. Akira still does that whenever now, and started talking to the nice young lady behind the counter with the pretty red hair. (He knows her name but still hasn't made the connection.) His friends and Rise thinks it's really funny, so they haven't told him yet, also he doesn't listen to her type of music.
> 
> Enjoy!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gossip cirlce! also AKira gets caught, but that's less important

“So sometimes I’ll see Marie around town with Firefly and his friends, and I’m told Mom and Uncle used to take Uncle Theo and Aunt Liz out too.” 

Ignoring Lavenza’s chime of “A true statement, Trickster,” he continued. 

“But do you know who I NEVER see outside the Velvet Room? Margaret! She's always here, looking at the compendium!” At this 4 sets of eyes turned to the Velvet attendant.

Anytime when Akira wasn’t playing, doing music, writing, or art, and when Firefly wasn’t around, He’d hang out in the limo, gossiping with Igor, Margaret, Marie, and Lavenza. It took a while, but he was bonding with Margaret, and as such had discovered her whimsical humor.

“Huh, I-” Marie was cut off.

“SO, my point is, what is up with that? Can she like, not leave the limo?”

“The Empress card exudes power and grace. Those of that arcana go where they desire, when they desire.” Igor nodded.

“It is possible she cannot leave Le Grimoire for long, though it stands to reason: Could she not carry it with her? No human could possibly snatch it from her without her consent, lest they face her wrath.” Lavenza shuddered.

“Maybe she can’t. Hey, Nose, are you keeping her here?”

Igor repeated his previous statement.

“ _ Théories valides, mes soeurs de velours. _ ” (valid theories, my velvet sisters.)

“I thought you considered The Nose as a creepy grandfather.”

“I do, but here, in the gossip circle, we’re all sisters.”

Igor chuckled.

“Ahem. I can leave the Room, I just don’t. However, I will be leaving for Yasogami’s high school culture festival. I have something special planned.”

“How nefarious, Margaret. Anyway, I gotta go, Naoto got un-kidnapped yesterday, and I wanna check on them. Plus, I need to ask them, Kiki-chan, Ri-chan, and Kanji-kun something and it’ll be a perfect opportunity to wear that new hoodie. Though, I also wanna practice. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.”

“The Wheel of Fortune represents change in one’s life. I wonder what change will undertake them, though it has been in the works for a long time now.”

“Fortune? What a coincidence.”

“Oh my god, Margaret, you’re gonna open a fortune telling stand.”

“She’ll probably be really good at it.” 

“Indeed. My sister’s gut has never led us astray. Usually it’s Elizabeth.”

Akira snorted.

“Anyway, ta ta for now~”

“Bye, Akira.”

“Farewell, Trickster.”

“See ya.”

“May you be guided by your bonds, Trickster.”

“ _ Adieu, mon peuple bleu~”  _ (farewell, my blue people~)

**_________________________**

Aragaki Minako was walking through the Central Shopping district when the blue doors of the Velvet Room opened. She started heading towards there to congratulate Yu-kun on saving Shirogane Naoto, but the person that walked out was not him. The one that walked out was her son, Kurusu Akira, saying goodbye in French? Akira never spoke French so playfully unless he was super comfortable with the person. Or entity, in this case. 

Something was fishy. Her Velvet Room key was only lost once, after that, she put it in her dresser and it was always there. UNLESS, Akira took it while she had work. She summoned her key, but there was still one in her son’s hand. There was no way he could have stolen it from her brother, unless! He still pickpocketed every now and again, she called Yu-kun.

“Minako-san? What’s wrong?” 

“Do you still have your Velvet Room key?”

“Yes, it’s with me now.”

“Then where- Are any of your friends at school?”

“Yosuke should be there, why?”

“Alright. Could you tell him to stay there?”

“Sure, but what’s all this about?”

“I- I’ll tell you later.”

“Okay. Be safe Minako-san.”

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

She called Yosuke.

“Minako-san? I got a text from Partner telling me to stay at school, what’s happening?”

“Listen, Akira’s going to Yasogami right about now. I need you to mute me, tail him, and text me updates.”

“Sure? Oh wait, I see him now.”

**Hanamura Yosuke → Aragaki Minako**

**Yosuke** : hes @ the msic rm rn.

“Hey, uh, who’s that in there?”

The young girl jumped.

“Oh, uh that’s a middle school child named Akira. He comes here to play piano sometimes, but he also sings and plays guitar. Akira-kun focuses on two songs, mostly, though.”

Minako’s eyebrows widened, she never knew he could do that, though it would make sense if Belladonna and Nameless taught him.

“Thanks. Uh, can I listen …?”

“Oh! I’m Ayane Matsunaga, first year.”

“Yosuke Hanamura, second year.”

She listened to the music, to hear the Aria of the Soul. She knew it. Now to figure out how, why, and how much he knows. In the middle of her musings, she heard him change songs. It was Kimi no Kioku. She let out a choked sob, remembering how important that song is to her and her brother, how her and Aigis would sing it on the rooftop on full moons, after he died. The music sounded nice, she thought. 

She texted Yosuke-kun that it was alright to go home, and gathered her current house guests.

“Okay, so I saw Akira going outside the Velvet Room speaking French.”

“How did he even get there?”

“French? He only speaks it to people he’s comfortable with!”

“Anyway, I asked one of the other kids to tail him, and he was in Yasogami’s music room, playing piano and singing Aria of the Soul and Kimi no Kioku.” Her brother smiled.

“Okay, we GOTTA catch him in the act. Everyone in agreement? Minako? Dearest? Say aye!”

“Aye.”

“Aye!”

At this point, Akira walked in with Shinjiro, and dinner started.

**_____________________**

Akira put on his winter girl clothes: fake small breasts, a pastel hoodie, black leggings, sneakers, clip on hoop earrings, and a wig of black, messy, shoulder-length hair. When he got to Junes, Firefly’s group started leaving, but he managed to catch the four he needed. He put his voice in a higher pitch.

“Ri-chan, Kiki-chan, Naoto-chan, and Kanji-kun! Can we talk?”

Yukiko and Rise seemed to realize because of the nickname, while Naoto had seen him like this. Kanji, however, was confused.

“Huh? Who are you?”

The girls started snickering. He whispered in his normal voice.

“I’m quite offended you don’t recognize me, Kanji-kun!”

“Akira? What happened to you?”

He changed his voice to a girl's again.

“I wanted to try out my new hoodie! How is it?”

“Pretty cool and convincing.” Kanji replied.

“I see you’ve been using the techniques. Nice.” Naoto nodded.

“It’s so cute Kira-chan!” Rise squealed.

“I love it, though how would you like to be addressed?” Yukiko questioned.

“Well, I’d prefer she/her when I’m like this in public, but I still identify as he/him.”

“Gotcha! Now what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, this.”

Akira grinned as they continued complimenting the outfit.

“Great! Ummm, I gotta dash, and see what my friends think of this new outfit!”

“Bye!”

“ _ Adieu!” _

Akira found Marie outside the Velvet door, neither of them noticing three people watching and listening to them.

“Hey,  _ mystérieuse messagère _ .” (mysterious messenger lady)

“Hey Kira. Nice look.”

“Why thank you, darling, I wanna show it to the others. Is Firefly in?”

“Nope. He’s supposed to meet me here, but I think he stopped at the metal shop.”

“Good thing I came when I did. I’m gonna hop in there, before he gets back.” Akira took out his Velvet key.

“Bye. Have fun.”

“See ya. I will.”

When he got there, Igor and Margaret were waiting.

“Welcome. Nice leggings.”

“Yeah, we match now!”

“The Fool arcana has many faces, many personas. This one suits you.”

“Thanks, Igor. Mind if I take a drink?” Akira poured a “wine glass” which, in reality, was his favorite juice. He chugged it and went to find Lavenza.

“Akira! It looks better than I thought it would!”

“Oh hush, you. I think it’s the legs.”

“Hmmmm. Maybe?”

“Excuse you, I have great legs!”

“If you say so~ Come on, let’s go see the others.”

“God, why did I teach her that? Curse me and my flamboyance.”

**_______________________**

When Akira finally came out of the Velvet Room, it was dark, and he got ambushed. Street Instinct cut in.

“ _ Merde!”  _ Akira slid under their legs, chopped one hard in the back, and ran. When he stopped to breathe, his assailants had already caught up with him.

“Akira! Breathe, honey, it’s just me.” His mom?

“Mom? Uncles? Why did you do that?! You triggered my fight or flight response!”

“Your response was both.”

He felt one of them rummaging around in his pockets, and was confused, but dread filled him soon after as Uncle Ryoji held up his Velvet Room key.

“We all know what this is, so don’t play dumb. Why do you have this?” Uncle Minato asked.

Akira gulped.

“Aunt Liz gave it to me when you dropped me off there a month or two ago.”

“You were speaking French, honey.”

“Uhhhhhh, I may or may not have stolen your key back in April? And since I had been coming there for a while, I may or may not have asked them for a key?”

“I knew it. What have they told you about that room?” Uncle Ryoji sounded… worried?

“When I first got there, Igor said that thing about it being in a dimension between this world and another one, which I kinda just accepted?”

“You… did? And you didn’t ask any more questions?”

“Well, Igor always answers cryptically, and they’re all really nice to me so…”

“What else have they told you?”

“Okay, well since Igor kept talking about tarot cards, that’s why I got so interested in them.” Not a lie, but not the whole truth. Akira figured that their eyes glowed like Firefly’s, but they didn’t need to know that his did too. “I know that you guys, minus Uncle Ryoji, were guests there, and Aunt Liz and Uncle Theo helped you, but I don’t know what being a guest means. Oh! Mr. Painter paints all of the guests once they're finished doing whatever.”

They all breathed a sigh of relief. The kid didn’t need to know about personas or shadows or any of the whole mess.

“Sooooo, can I still come back?”

“Under one condition.”

“What is it?”

“You need to show us what Belladonna and Nameless taught you! Come on, we’ll borrow the piano one of these days.”

“Moooooooom!”

“Come on, now let’s go home.”

“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Akira and the Velvet Residents, and the gossip circle was especially fun. I will tell you, next chapter is the culture festival, and the one after that is just a little something fun I wrote while I was bored. It takes place during this work, so I don't feel like it needs to be a separate work. 
> 
> I gotta start fixing my sleep schedule, school's coming up.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yasogami Culture Festival!!! Even as a middle schooler, Akira has a reason to go, because Margaret does not disappoint.

The day the Yasogami Culture Festival began, Akira became a girl again. Looking for his favorite highschoolers, he saw the girls and approached them, though frowned soon after.

“Hey, ladies! Why are you in bikinis?”

“Culture festival rules. Though personally I like the boys’ get ups better. Why don’t you go see them.” Ri-chan and Kiki-chan threatened to keel over in laughter.

“Uh, sure. Well then, I know it sucks, but have fun?”

“Bye!”

**_______________________**

When he snuck over to the boys’ side, he saw Kanji-kun first.

“AHHAHHHAHHAH! Oh my god, this is too good! You look great though!”

“Akira?! Why are you here, you’re in middle school! And quit laughing, dammit!” He blushed furiously.

“Kanji? Who is this?”

He put his voice back to normal.

“What’s up, Hanamura-san?”

“Akira-kun?! Why are you dressed like that?!” Kanji glared at him.

“I should be asking you the same question. You jealous that I’m better at this than you all? Except for Kanji-kun and that one, oh wow.” He pointed at someone dressed as Alice in Wonderland, who noticed and started coming over.

“Yosukeeeeeeee! And… *gasp* you’re Akira-kun!”

“Teddie! Good job!”

“Teddie almost thought you were a real girl!”

“Same! Hey, I got Topsicles for you!”

“Thanks, Akira-kun. Do you want one?”

“Eh, already had one on the way here.” At this Firefly came over. He addressed all four boys, to distract them while he secretly took pictures.

“Hmmmm. Let’s see… Teddie is a 10, Kanji-kun, you’re a solid 8, love the wig, you, in the pigtails is 7. Try to sell it a bit more, would you? Hanamura-san, are you even trying? You would be a 3. Now rate me!”

“You’re… a boy? And you just rated us on our costumes?” Firefly said cautiously.

“Yup!” Akira popped the ‘p.’

“Well, I had no idea until you said that, so 10, mysterious girl.”

“Uhhh, 9.” Hanamura-san was hurt on his rating, but even he had to admit, the kid was convincing.

“No, 10.” The other two agreed. 

“Why, thank you,  _ ladies _ , but I gotta dash. I’m planning to see that fortune-teller booth, you girls should go too, when you’re done.” Ignoring the blushes, he stared at Firefly and made sure the other three couldn’t see his eyes. He flashed his third eye, long enough for him to notice, but also long enough for him to be conflicted about it and wonder if it was a trick of the light.

Ignoring Firefly saying to come back, he slid through the shadows and exited the area. He headed towards the fortune telling booth.

**_______________________**

When he got there, he heard Margaret say something he never thought would come out of her mouth. She just told a little girl (XIII. Justice. [do all justice arcana have brown hair?!?!?!]) and her father (V. Hierophant.) that someone was a “man-whore.” As the father rushed the child away, Akira walked up.

“Oh my god, Margaret, you can’t just say that to little girls.”

“I speak the truth and nothing but the truth, Miss Kurusu. Would you like to come inside?”

As he stepped inside, he realised something.

“Wait, wasn’t that Firefly’s little sister?”

“Cousin, actually, and before you ask, yes, I was calling my guest a man-whore.”

“Damn. Anyway, I was just going to say hi, but I did point Firefly and his friends towards this particular booth. Just saying.”

“What’s he gonna do, fight me?”

“Pfffft. Okay bye, Margaret.”

“Farewell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Margaret does. not. disappoint. Also Akira is the king/queen of crossdressing.
> 
> I'm already panicking about school so I went supply shopping yesterday, and orientation's today, so the chapters aRe a bit short. have two chapters then!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> C R A C K

The Velvet Room was in mass panic. They were all gathered in one massive blue room, and the chaotic energy in the room was enough to kill a man.

In the middle was Igor, and oH GOD WAS HIS DESK FLOATING?!?!?!?! His head had tarot cards floating all around it, but the Fool card was stuck through his nose.

Belladonna and Nameless were playing the Wii music theme, at Akira’s request, and at some point had started a mashup of it with Aria of the Soul.

Over that, Margaret started singing the “Long Nose Song” with Elizabeth.

Theodore was getting chased around by Mara.

Meanwhile, Lavenza, Akira, and Ryoji were in a three-way chicken fight, and their bases, Marie, Minako, and Minato, respectively, were duking it out as well.

Demon Painter had finished drawing the scene, and was speed drawing memes Akira had shown him.

Outside the door, one Shinjiro Aragaki had quit entirely, and was sitting outside. When Yu Narukami came over to fuse personas and ask about the not-girl with a half-filled fool card and glowing red eyes, he said,

“You don’t wanna go in there, kid, it’s chaos”

Through the door, they could hear screaming in perfect unison, which somehow descended into a perfect harmony of the Aria of the Soul, Wii theme mashup, with Theodore still screaming in terror from Mara. Yu chose that moment to wisely back up and run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira finally asks about the Velvet Room, meanwhile I tie up something I've left unfinished.

Akira’s in the middle of another gossip in the limo, this time without Marie, who had gone out with Firefly.

“I swear, how bad could it be, but Kanji-kun’s still not telling me where he got that  _ fantastic  _ wig.”

“I would have to agree, you’d look great in that wig, if you were a bit older.” Margaret looked up from her cards.

“From the pictures Akira has shown me, it looks a little bit like your hair, sister, does it not?”

“The arcana line up.” Igor grinned.

“What? Oh. OH! You and Kanji-kun are Firefly’s Empress and Emperor arcana!”

Margaret sighed.

“About that, I still feel bonds with you guys, but I’ve only had Lavenza announce them out of nowhere, and officiate it with Lavenza and Igor. Also, what is the Velvet Room for?”

Margaret sighed again, longer and deeper this time.

“We all knew he was going to ask this at some point.”

“Indeed. The Velvet Room helps guests of the Fool Arcana reach the World Arcana.”

“Like my mom.”

“Exactly. You have your own bonds to make, each one of the 22 major arcana. While you can still bond with other arcana, they are not… yours. You make these ‘social links’ to further increase your power, but also because it’s nice to have real friends,” Lavenza ignored the “awwwwww” from Akira and the glare from Margaret for interrupting the explanation. She continued.

“Though you cannot bond with these people, the more people you bond with, the more powerful that arcana will be to you. For example, you already know 2 Empress arcana, Mitsuru Kirijo and Margaret. You can already do things with this, and those options will grow expansively when you meet your own Empress arcana.”

“Why would I need these arcana to be strong?”

“Tell me, Trickster, do you remember experiencing what your parents have dismissed as bedtime stories, the Dark Hour?”

“Yes. Goro knew it too.”

“The monsters called Shadows, the tools used to fight them, facets of our soul, Personas, they are real. The Wildcard, you are one, Trickster, and you must use these bonds to fuse powerful personas and defeat those who threaten humanity.” Margaret looked at him, as if she could see through his soul. It wasn’t the first time. 

“One day, Akira, you’ll sign a contract, and you’ll awaken to a persona, and I’ll be your attendant. But after Firefly finishes his contract, you can’t access the Velvet Room anymore.”

“Why?”

“It would hinder your growth, Trickster. But fear not, we will see each other again.”

“Then we can have more gossip sessions!”

The Velvet Residents smiled softly.

“Of course.”

“One more thing, though.”

“What, Trickster?”

“. . . Don’t tell anyone I know about this. I haven’t even told my parents I saw the Dark Hour, and-”

“Akira. We won’t, don’t worry. Now, did you bring Topsicles?”

As Akira pulled them out of his backpack, Lavenza squealed, jumping, Igor had one magically appear in his hand, and Margaret tried to take one when nobody was looking, smiling to herself.

The Trickster would be a wonderful guest, Igor thought, and he could not wait to see what he would do.

**_______________________________**

When Akira came out of the Velvet Room, he headed towards the Samegawa Flood Plain, only to see Yukiko pacing back and forth.

“Kiki-chan? What are you doing?”

“Akira! O-Oh! I-I’m just u-uhhhhhh.”

“What?”

“I wanna confess to my crush, and oh god what if-”

“Slow down. First of all, who’s your crush?” 

She turned as red as her headband.

“I-It’s Chie.”

“Your best friend? Steak Chie?”

“Y-Yeah. I asked her to meet me here in 10 minutes.”

“Well then, we have a lot of work to do! GET YOUR STUFF TOGETHER YUKIKO AMAGI OR SO HELP ME GOD! YOU CAN DO THIS! YOU CAN DO THIS!”

“I CAN DO THIS!”

**_____________________**

“And she asked me to meet her at the Flood Plain @ 5 pm sharp, and-”

“Wait, wait, wait. She did?! Chie, this is your chance, oh my god!” Ryoji bounced up and down.

“B-But what if it’s not that? What if everything goes to-”

“Satonaka Chie. Are you a coward? Will you back down from this?” Minato raised an eyebrow.

“N-No! I’m not!”

“Very well, then.”

“Come on, Chie-chan,  _ vamonos _ , or you’re gonna be late!”

**_____________________**

When Chie arrived at Samegawa, Minato and Ryoji hid, only to find their nephew in the same spot. They gave each other a thumbs up.

“They totally like each other.” Akira whispered.

“I’ve been trying to tell Chie that for forever.” Ryoji whispered back.

Meanwhile,

“So, I really gotta tell you something,”

“I also need to say something.”

“I LIKE YOU.”

“I LIKE YOU ROMANTICALLY!”

They embraced, meanwhile the boys whooped and cheered, interlocking their arms and walking back home, singing. Yes, even Minato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to god, guys I have no idea what happened to me. For the past few days I've been in some kind of weird hibernation. It's like I was just there, you know? Like I was just existing and nothing else.
> 
> Anyway, next chapter will be longer, and the last one!!! I've already written that and another one-shot that'll go in between this and the fic taking place during p5. I might take a short break to at least write the first few chapters for that work, and since school is starting, I might start updating twice a week.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the Inaba lesbians~


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End!!!

Akira was delivering food to one Adachi Tohru, when he spotted Naoto and Kanji-kun yelling at him, and Firefly banging on the window? He saw Firefly get released.

“Uhhhh, I’m delivering to an Adachi Tohru?” he felt a little awkward.

“That’s me.” Adachi-san looked sheepish.

“So what’s the commotion about?” Kanji and Firefly told him not to worry about it, but Naoto, remembering his puzzle solving intellect interrupted them.

“It’s another puzzle, Akira. Say a little girl was told not to open the door and stay away from all entrances, exits, and windows while she was home alone. She still got kidnapped, but how?”

He thought for a minute.

“Okay, I serious doubt this is a puzzle, but, would she open the door if she thought it was her family or…”

At this all their eyes lit up and their brains connected the dots.

“A delivery truck!”

“Thanks, Akira-kun!”

“Wait, Nametame Taro drives a delivery truck, and he’s connected to Mayumi Yamano!” Adachi told them.

“Ohh, this is about the murders!” As they ran off, Akira called out to them. “Hey guys!”

“Yeah?”

“Stay safe, okay? And rescue that little girl!”

“Thanks, random kid.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

“Thank you, Akira.” As they continued running, he turned to Adachi-san, who was grinning to himself. It was honestly kinda really scary.

“So… are you gonna eat this?”

**________________________**

_ A month later… _

Akira was scared. His mom had been insisting on her, Dad, or the Uncles to stay with him at all times, walking him to school, and Uncle Ryoji had blended in and was watching him at school. Meanwhile, everybody around town except the persona users (who he figured out were the reason his tarot senses were ringing) were all gloomy and stuff. When nobody could watch them, he was in the Velvet Room, or at least with Lavenza. At least Hifumi was coming today.

“Hifumi!”

“Akira! Lavenza!”

As they walked Akira caught her up on what was happening, while her dad went to the Inn.

Suddenly, his mom grabbed them by the hands. Lavenza was summoned back to the Velvet Room.

“Akira. Hifumi-chan. Listen to me, okay? Has Akira told you about the fog?” 

Hifumi nodded. Akira and Lavenza told her about the mysterious Velvet Room after she got suspicious, and Akira had sounded really creeped out when he called her.

“Well, there are monsters called Shadows roaming around. Shinji, my brother, and Ryoji are holding them at bay across town, but I need you two to  _ stay with me. _ Got it?”

They nodded. The three of them were across town, Minako defeating shadows, when they caught up with the other three adult persona users. 

Minato suddenly collapsed, groaning in pain.

“Minato!”

“It’s… the Seal-agh! I… need to go back. Protect the kids.”

Ryoji nodded.

“Hold her back for us.”

Then Minato dissolved into light. They split up again, when Minako had to fight a lot of shadows at once.

“Shinji! Help! Ugh, there’s so many!”

One of them managed to get around to the kids, who were being used as a meat shield for some coward civilian.

It struck.

**________________________**

“Master, they are being targeted, forced to shield some coward adult! I cannot stay here!”

“Lavenza…” Margaret trailed off. Meanwhile, Igor hummed in thought.

“You feel the dedication to your guest this much already? Very well, then. I will let you go, on the account that you do not fight for them. Delay the shadows, only.” he grinned.

“Yes master. Thank you.”

**________________________**

“Stay here, kids! Protect me!”

“Akira! Hifumi-chan! Let go of them!”

“No!” They both thrashed around as the Shadow approached.

A voice spoke.

_ Are you simply going to stand here? Will you give up your life for a coward? _

“No. I won’t.”

_ Will you defend yourself? _

“Yes!” He started to writhe under the immense pain, and vaguely found himself covered in blue fire.

_ Very well, then. Let us proceed with the contract. _

_ I am thou, thou art I, _

_ Thou who art willing to perform all sacreligious justice for thine own justice! _

_ Call upon me, and release thy rage! _

“Come to me, ARSENE!”

**________________________**

Akira was screaming, but she hardly noticed. A voice was ringing in her head.

_ Have you decided to tread the path of strife? Will you rebel against those who choose to use you for their own desires, even if it is your own mother? _

“Y-Yes!” She let out one long scream as she was encased in blue fire.

_ Wonderful. Let us forge a contract. _

_ I am thou, thou art I, _

_ You have chosen to finally see the truth. _

_ Rebel, and never lose it again! _

“Go forth, Murasaki!”  _ (based off of Murasaki Shikibu) _

_ <https://gameavenuex.com/index.php/2020/04/23/did-you-know-that-hifumi-togo-is-supposed-to-be-a-persona-user-in-persona-5-persona-5-royal/> _

**________________________**

Their clothes changed, Akira into a fancy gray shirt, black slacks, red gloves and a long coat. He had a white, owlish mask with black markings around the eyes. Hifumi had a black outfit, lined with gold, a belt with red flowers, and long, flowing red sleeves at the end. The hairpin Akira gave her transformed into a big red flower, and her mask covered the left side of her face. It had white on the bottom, red in the middle and top, and gold, with a black part where her eye was, giving way to a tiny orb.

Lavenza appeared, pinpointing the shadow’s weaknesses, and sending a bright burst of light whenever the shadows got too close.

And then, as soon as it started, it stopped. Akira and Hifumi’s clothes went back to normal, and they collapsed on the street, barely awake. Minato respawned and also collapsed, leaving Shinjiro, Ryoji, and Minako to carry them back to the house.

Akira dreamed of Marie, telling him something really confusing about why she had to go, and asked him to write her a story. He hugged her goodbye until he woke up.

**________________________**

“If we continue to be present among you, it may hinder your journey.” Igor spoke.

“Well then, Trickster, we must leave you. When you finish your journey, let’s gossip again, okay?”  Margaret smiled.

“Keep up the drawing, kid, got it?” Mr. Painter ruffled his hair.”

“We will miss you and your voice!”

“Do not forget the music, for it is in your soul.”

Lady Donna and Sir Nameless sang.

“Akira! Theo and I will still visit!”

“O-Of course we will!”

Aunt Liz tackled him, and Uncle Theo helped him up.

“Trickster. You have surprised me over and over again. I look forward to you being our guest.”

Igor cast a spell on his Velvet key.

“When you need it, it will come to you. It is infused with a part of each of us, here.”

He handed him a pack of tarot cards.

“Remember your bonds, for they make you stronger.”

Finally, Lavenza. She hugged him.

“You better not forget, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“Tell Hifumi I said hi.”

“Every time?”

“Every time.”

“I’m gonna miss you,  _ cher papillon bleu. _ ” (dear blue butterfly)

“As will I.”

As he stepped backwards, and watched the door to the Velvet Room fade away, he sang the Aria of the Soul, smiling while a tear crept down his cheek.

**________________________**

As he turned on the Weather Channel, home alone and bored, Akira jumped in surprise. The new weather lady, Mariko Kusumi was… Marie?! And, she had been wearing formal clothes! He raced to the TV station, clutching his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm rly sorry it took so long to finish, the whole thing was kinda giving me trouble, and i feel like im drowning in homework, even though it hasn't been that long since school started. I'll still write when I can, but this series won't be updated in a while probably. I am also working on a little side project with my friends, and I might post it here, who knows. (they dont have any fanfic site accounts. only me bc im trash for this lol.)
> 
> Anyway, Hifumi's persona was based off of Murasaki Shikibu, and she was originally supposed to be another strategist for the thieves! I would've loved to see that, but I get how 2 strategists would be weird. Still don't know how im gonna split up the work between her and makoto. 
> 
> https://gameavenuex.com/index.php/2020/04/23/did-you-know-that-hifumi-togo-is-supposed-to-be-a-persona-user-in-persona-5-persona-5-royal/
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Bye~


End file.
